The telecommunications giant’s turnover is one-fifth that of South Korea.
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee died this Sunday at age 78. The one who made the group a global telecommunications giant, had been bedridden since a heart attack in 2014.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Lee Kun-hee, president of Samsung Electronics”, announces the group. “President Lee passed away on October 25 with his family, including Vice President Jay Y. Lee, by his side. The vice president, his son Lee Jae-yong, has been at the helm of the company since the 2014 health accident.
“President Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung from a local company into a global leader in innovation and industrial power,” the company praised. She adds that “her legacy will be eternal”. Under the leadership of Lee Kun-hee, Samsung has grown into the world’s largest producer of smartphones and chips. It is also a major global player in the field of semiconductors and LCD screens.
“Let’s change everything except our women and our children”
When Lee Kun-hee took over the chairmanship of the Samsung Group in 1987, founded by his father, a fruit and fish exporter, the company was already the country’s largest conglomerate. Its business sector ranged from consumer electronics to construction.
At the start of Lee Kun-hee’s presidency, Samsung was seen as a maker of low-quality and cheap products. “Let’s change everything except our women and our children,” he said in 1993. The company then wiped out its products and burned the 150,000 cell phones it had in stock. In meetings with his subordinates and in rare interviews, Lee Kun-hee has always stressed the importance of having bright minds. “In the era of limitless competition, winning or losing will depend on a small number of geniuses … A genius will feed 100,000 people,” he explained.
Sentenced to suspended sentence
Samsung is by far the largest of the South Korean conglomerates (the chaebols) that dominate the world’s 12th largest economy. The company’s overall turnover is equivalent to one-fifth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, making it crucial to the economic health of South Korea. The chaebols are accused of having opaque links with political power and of obstructing all competition.
Lee Kun-hee was thus convicted of corruption in 1996, then of corruption and tax evasion in 2008. But he escaped jail, having been sentenced to a suspended sentence.
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Her son Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 after being convicted of bribery and other offenses related to former President Park Geun-hye. Then he was cleared of the most serious charges on appeal and released a year later. This case is still ongoing.
